Gotta Catch 'em All: Pokemod!

The first mod I ever did was to replace all the soul crystals in Morrowind with pokeballs.  I wanted to do something more ambitious, but I barely figured out how to model pokeballs and it was just too daunting to mod all the objects in Morrowind (buildings, trees, all the NPCs; it would be a huge task to make that game resemble Pokemon).  With Elemental, it just might be possible to do a full-on Pokemon total conversion.

Simple first mod:  Change the summon spell icons to look like pokeballs, and then add an "I choose you!" sound to the casting effect.

 

Incremental mods:

1. Model various pokemon and put them into the game.  At the time I was playing Morrowind, I found a website where someone had posted dozens of pokemon renders he'd created; but I was never able to get in contact with him.  There may be people who have made pokemon models and would share them.  Since these are low-poly graphics, it shouldn't be too hard to model them from scratch; the rigging and animation is what concerns me.  It may be possible to use the bones and animations of creatures already in-game.  Finished pokemon creatures could be further modded into generic dragons, turtles, plant monsters, and whatnot, so they'd have value outside the Pokemon fan community, LOL.

2. Model (or create in the tile editors) structures that resemble those of the pokemon cartoon and games.  Pokemon's art style is simple and boxy, so it shouldn't be too hard.

3. Script pokemon-themed quests.

4. Model pokemon hairstyles and body shapes.  Ash, Misty, Nurse Jenny, Professor Oak; characters with a distinctive hairstyle would serve as reference for the hair models, which would be useful in themselves to other, non-pokemon, modders.  Body shapes would be more difficult, since there's only one real body style each for male and female units.  Maybe just tweak those meshes to look more anime-like.  (May not be able to do much with proportions because of the rigging.)

 

Big, game-changing, mods:

1. Create a system by which monsters, but not humans, can be captured in pokeballs and later released, as charmed units, which can then be recaptured.

2. Replace the magic and essence system with something else, something plausible in the Pokemon world.

a. Maybe somehow require the presence of a unit on the tactical combat map in order to cast certain spells.  So, you could learn charizard's special ability (a spell), but you could only use it when charizard is in play.  Or, when on the world map, you can only cast certain spells if a given pokemon is in your sovereign's army.

3. Establish sovereigns and champions as non-combatants.

4. Eliminate the ability to found and manage towns, yet keep towns interesting.

a. Fixed world map modeled after Pokemon Yellow?

b. It would be cool if you could click on a building to access it.  So, for example, only certain towns would have a gym, whose leader you could challenge; and others would have Pokemarts, pokemon nursing stations, pokemon breeders, and so on.

5. Completely redo the tech tree.

6. Completely re-write the diplomacy screens and interactions.  You would no longer recruit adventurers, but instead talk to them or challenge them to pokemon battles.

7. Make multiplayer work, and make it interesting.  Maybe multiplayer could be a race to become the #1 pokemon trainer by earning all the badges and winning the big tournament.  One can only achieve that by a) defeating all the other trainers, b) finding certain special items and pokemon, c) developing trainer skill (magic and technology research), and possibly d) completing a "master quest" (such as filling out Professor Oak's complete Pokedex).

 

These "big, game-changing, mods" may be too much.  If the interest is there, and if a large community develops around the idea, and if some of them know hardcore programming, it could be done.  Alternatively, the conversion could follow a tongue-in-cheek "War of Pokemon" theme.  The intro screen would explain that pokemon, once used for peaceful purposes by skilled trainers in competition, are now used for war.  The game casts you in the role of one pokemon trainer dedicated to conquering the Pokemon World.

28,870 views 25 replies
Reply #1 Top

strange .... i would not expect such a thing to come from elemental o_O

Reply #2 Top

I wish you luck. If you finish this, I will definetly play it. I don't envy you having to model all the pokemon, though:P

Reply #3 Top

Don't do it!!!! NooooOooOoOoooooo!!!!!

Gotta Kill Em All, Gotta Kill em All!!!

LoL... J/K

More power to you my friend. I was a little too old for Pokemen when it came out so I never got into it. I thought the "concept" was cool, but the art and animation was too "cutesy" for my tastes. I wouldn't mind seeing a Magic The Gathering Mod for Elemental though.

Reply #4 Top

Quoting KillzEmAllGod, reply 1
strange .... i would not expect such a thing to come from elemental
End of KillzEmAllGod's quote
Why not? Digimon seemed more interesting though.

 

Hoping for an elightemed moddre to make a mod that takes Elemental to be the new RPGMaker. My second mod must be an RPG...

Reply #5 Top

This is really crossing the line on licensing issues, but it might be fun to do on your own PC:  Replace all the Elemental music with Pokemon music.

Reply #6 Top

Well, I've grown out of my "HATE EVERYTHING ABOUT POKEMON" phase of my life, so I'll be curious to see how this goes.

Reply #7 Top

Quoting MagicwillNZ, reply 6
Well, I've grown out of my "HATE EVERYTHING ABOUT POKEMON" phase of my life, so I'll be curious to see how this goes.
End of MagicwillNZ's quote
im still in it...

Reply #8 Top

The more I think about this, the more I think it's an AMAZING FANTASTIC IDEA.   :star:

Going with the "War of Pokemon" approach, it could work if city founding was really gym founding.  "Cities" could only be established on top of existing city tiles, like Pallet Town or Viridian City.  Once you've established a gym in that town, you can build pokemon breeding farms, Pokemarts, and so on.  It makes conceptual sense.  The only tricky part is to dig into the XML (or Python) and find out how to restrict city building to only certain tiles, and then to make a custom tile that looks sort of like a city that you can build a city over.

Sovereigns, then, would be gym leaders.  (The final total conversion would include Team Rocket, other characters, as factions.)

And, just like in the Gameboy games, adventurers would be unaffiliated pokemon trainers you encounter in the wilderness.  The difference here being that you can recruit them to your gym (or army of pokemon trainers).

Gambling and tournament mechanics to simulate pokemon battles would be great, but can wait.  (I'd like to see winning the ultimate pokemon tournament, and/or collecting all gym badges, as a victory condition.)

Something else:  Quests for legendary pokemon, which would be extremely rare and hard to catch, but very powerful, like guardian monsters in Elemental.

Reply #9 Top

This idea contains UNLAWFUL AMOUNTS OF AWESOMESAUCE.

I would play this so much.

I think it would work very well, too borrowing heavily from the mechanics of the Pokemon games. They wouldn't have to be THAT modified to fit Elemental's structure as far as I can perceive it.

Reply #10 Top

Quoting KillzEmAllGod, reply 7

im still in it...
End of KillzEmAllGod's quote

Believe me, it just get too tiresome to care about after a while.

Quoting otakucore2, reply 8
The more I think about this, the more I think it's an AMAZING FANTASTIC IDEA.  

Going with the "War of Pokemon" approach, it could work if city founding was really gym founding.  "Cities" could only be established on top of existing city tiles, like Pallet Town or Viridian City.  Once you've established a gym in that town, you can build pokemon breeding farms, Pokemarts, and so on.  It makes conceptual sense.  The only tricky part is to dig into the XML (or Python) and find out how to restrict city building to only certain tiles, and then to make a custom tile that looks sort of like a city that you can build a city over.

Sovereigns, then, would be gym leaders.  (The final total conversion would include Team Rocket, other characters, as factions.)

And, just like in the Gameboy games, adventurers would be unaffiliated pokemon trainers you encounter in the wilderness.  The difference here being that you can recruit them to your gym (or army of pokemon trainers).

Gambling and tournament mechanics to simulate pokemon battles would be great, but can wait.  (I'd like to see winning the ultimate pokemon tournament, and/or collecting all gym badges, as a victory condition.)

Something else:  Quests for legendary pokemon, which would be extremely rare and hard to catch, but very powerful, like guardian monsters in Elemental.
End of otakucore2's quote

One of my friends wanted to design an RPG setting based on what the world would actually be *like* with Pokemon-like creatures.

Needless to say, my character was a secret policeman who used psychic Pokemon to read minds and persecute enemies of the state. There was a host of other terrorists and paramilitary who used Pokemon for horrible violence. It was, essentially, a dystopic Pokemon world.

That being said, you are actually making your idea sound kinda fun.

Reply #11 Top

Heh, if you fully develop (or partially develop) the mod ... I might want to steal some stuff for a possible "Persona Mod"

especially if its possible to make the Sovereign character "move around" during summoning (like holding an evoker and pointing it at his head) and of course sound (like saying "persona" w/ the sound of crystal or glass shattering)

Reply #12 Top

Quoting Raven, reply 3
Don't do it!!!! NooooOooOoOoooooo!!!!!

Gotta Kill Em All, Gotta Kill em All!!!

LoL... J/K

More power to you my friend. I was a little too old for Pokemen when it came out so I never got into it. I thought the "concept" was cool, but the art and animation was too "cutesy" for my tastes. I wouldn't mind seeing a Magic The Gathering Mod for Elemental though.
End of Raven's quote

I think you should try Persona 3 for the PS2. Very dark "end of the world" kind of thing with a vaguely similar concept (warning contains anime)

Persona 4 is slightly more upbeat, while Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne is even darker with less of an anime influence

 

the "personae" are mostly elder gods and demons (given monster-like forms), with a few exceptions

excerpt from Persona 3 soundtrack and another


a couple reviews of P3 Fes

and lastly a picture

 

Reply #13 Top

Check out this find:

http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/search?tags=pokemon&start=0

 

This, too:

http://www.the3dstudio.com/product_details.aspx?id_product=281041

 

I also got responses back from a couple of modelers on YouTube.  If I can show playable results, I'm sure they'll contribute.

The big challenge is rigging and animation, and how to do it without expensive 3D apps.

Reply #14 Top

Quoting otakucore2, reply 13
Check out this find:

http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/search?tags=pokemon&start=0

 

This, too:

http://www.the3dstudio.com/product_details.aspx?id_product=281041

 

I also got responses back from a couple of modelers on YouTube.  If I can show playable results, I'm sure they'll contribute.

The big challenge is rigging and animation, and how to do it without expensive 3D apps.
End of otakucore2's quote

If I were you, I'd check out the Blender tutorials. They've allowed me to get into some trouble, so they're valuable. I think it's less important to make things look "good" at this point and simply produce a passable prototype.

Reply #15 Top

My plan is to, as soon as I know how, just plug in static, no art style, basic pokemon models, just to show that it works.  The more basic stuff I can get working, the more likely others will join in.  There's no way I could model all 151 pokemon, plus all the buildings and items, by myself.

By the time we know how to rig and animate the models, I should have 20-30 basic pokemon models, some tiles, hopefully hair and clothes, and some basic UI changes already done.  Then I can start improving the basic models, before rigging and animating them.  Once the mod appears to really be roughed in, others should join or even take over.  Hopefully they'll join because there's no way I'll finish a total conversion by myself.

Reply #16 Top

I'm not the designer, but if completely redoing the way the game works get too hard.  May consider implementing the pokemon as creatures and summon spells.  Taking out many of the tactical spells and replacing it with summon <insert pokemon name>.  What you can learn/summon based off of what shards you have and control, etc.

 

Also if you could implement that rock type pokemon have raise/lower terrain. etc.  Flying pokemon let you use teleport.  The caster would be totally dependant on what pokemon he had/able to summon.  

 

Just throwing out some ideas.

Reply #17 Top

Oh, I love this idea. I am totally in the process of watching every show, as I am totally hooked. Good luck with this. I am going to try my hand at modding shortly, so if I can learn the system (school is starting next week) I would love to help ^_^ But take my offer with a grain of salt, as me is busy >.< Again, good luck with however far you take this.

Reply #18 Top

Ah, yeah, linking pokemon to shard control is a good idea.  If the pokemon special abilities are spells, those spells could increase in power based on shards controlled.  At least, I think so--that would require pokemon to use essence and might require more modding to treat them as champions.  Maybe there's a way to link summon spells to shard control, such that control of three fire shards, for example, would enable one to summon the level 3 evolution of a given pokemon.  Enabling pokemon to level up and evolve is another possible pursuit.

I think the first version of the mod should include only level 1 pokemon.  Then can look into how evolution works.  I thought they'd evolve through experience gains, but even that is problematic--there's no system in place for units transforming into other units.

Reply #19 Top

These "big, game-changing, mods" may be too much. If the interest is there, and if a large community develops around the idea, and if some of them know hardcore programming, it could be done. Alternatively, the conversion could follow a tongue-in-cheek "War of Pokemon" theme. The intro screen would explain that pokemon, once used for peaceful purposes by skilled trainers in competition, are now used for war. The game casts you in the role of one pokemon trainer dedicated to conquering the Pokemon World.
End of quote

So far i see only a very restricting XML modding in Elemental. There is no C++ SDK like in Civilization 4/5. And a total conversion is impossible without access to a game logic. I don't see any plans to expose it either, but maybe i missed the announcement?

 

Why not? Digimon seemed more interesting though.
End of quote

Nah. Pokegirls are certainly more interesting than Pokemon or any Pokemon clone. It's an unofficial 18+ spin-off of Pokemon. I prefer Kerrik Wolf's fanfics.

Reply #20 Top

So far i see only a very restricting XML modding in Elemental. There is no C++ SDK like in Civilization 4/5. And a total conversion is impossible without access to a game logic. I don't see any plans to expose it either, but maybe i missed the announcement?
End of quote

You missed it. They're going to expose it in Python over the next couple months.

Reply #21 Top

Nice. In that case, i certainly prefer a total conversion. Pokemon game with the gameplay similar to the anime will be almost like Gladius (PS2/XBox/Game Cube), right? It's a nice game but AI sucks, as usual in JRPGs :( I'm kinda unfamiliar with Pokemon rules so i'm not sure. I think i saw 2-3 anime episodes, and i saw some pokemon cards when i played tabletop MtG, that's all. But if it's something like Gladius then it should be fun.

More power to you my friend. I was a little too old for Pokemen when it came out so I never got into it. I thought the "concept" was cool,but the art and animation was too "cutesy" for my tastes. I wouldn't mind seeing a Magic The Gathering Mod for Elemental though.
End of quote

There are a lot of MtG-like computer games. The latest one is Spectromancer IIRC, it has both a nice online multiplayer and a singleplayer campaign.

Reply #23 Top

Found some models ripped from Pokemon Stadium 2:

http://www.models-resource.com/nintendo_64/pokemonstadium2/

Also, just bits of textures from Pokemon Snap and Pokemon Stadium 2:

http://www.textures-resource.com/other_systems/pokesnap/

There's a lot more there, too, like Nintendo Power style game maps and building sprites that could serve as reference for Elemental tiles.

I'm looking into how they ripped the models now.   They say the app rips mesh data from Direct X, not from the model itself, so it could be a way to pull weapons and props out of Elemental.  The ripped mesh could be format-neutral.  Then we could make changes and put them back in using CivFreak's technique.

Reply #24 Top

I like the idea of an item in inventory that would summon a beast, and then the beast would have spell "collapse" to hide back into item.

It would be the very same beast, with experience, abilities and stats (like a hero!) .

Only one beast would be allowed to be out of its item at a time.

And the sovereign would have spell "catch", so that when you  fight a wild beast if you finish it in three turns after you cast "catch" you'd recieve item containing the wounded defeated beast.

 

It doesn't even have to be pokemon setting!

Reply #25 Top

Nice ... Codex Alera xD